I'll often ask you to respond to a question or a reading for next class.
These assignments are meant as preparation for in-class activities, as well as steps toward larger assignments.
So if you're unprepared, you'll be hurting the learning experience of your classmates, as well as your own.
This is why I evaluate participation as part of your grade.
In general, I expect your responses to thoroughly answer the question I posed
using complete sentences and some kind of evidence
(examples, details, quotes, photos, links to other websites) to support your original point.
(Usually there's no "one right answer," but an answer is better/worse based on whether it's YOURS and whether it's SUPPORTED)
Here are some guidelines for question responses:
Make sure to read the question carefully to determine what it's asking
You can use the "I" voice (As in, "I noticed that..." or "I think...")
Spelling/grammar do not "count": I'm more interested in you getting down your ideas
Be honest: I'm more impressed by those who can admit when they're confused, angry, or disinterested.
Remember that what you write is public (to our class) and will often be part of subsequent discussion, so write what you feel comfortable sharing with others.
In your reading responses, you should briefly summarize the reading and also address issues or topics in the reading that interested you or led you to ask questions. You might begin your reading response by asking the following questions:
What ideas interest me most?
What insights does this reading offer?
What issues are involved in this reading?
What is at stake where these issues are concerned?
What do I agree with in the reading?
What do I not agree with?
What do I not understand, or need to know more about?
Models I thought Dr. Rebekah Nathan was a very brave woman. After fifteen years of teaching, she decided to switch roles and become the student. On top of that, she became a "new freshman" at the same university she taught at for years. She completely threw herself into the role, too. She lived in the dorms, attended classes, did homework, and joined as many activities as she could, trying to capture the freshman experience.
When she described attending Previews in the first chapter, there were two lines I thought were fantastic. They were, "As a new student, I was overwhelmed; as a professor, I was surprised to see how many groups dominated the scene and vied for student attention. As an anthropologist, I was humbled to see how little I, as a professor, knew of my students' academic world." The last line in particular stood out to me because I think it's very true that a lot of people get used to the world they know, and may not realize how extremely different someone else's world is. For example, Dr. Nathan was describing how as a professor, she thought she was pretty familiar with the layout of the campus, but after moving in the dorms, she was completely disoriented when forced to find her way around. Another interesting difference Dr. Nathan pointed out was the dialogue in different groups of people. The students had a different style and faster pace of speaking than the professors.
Throughout the second chapter, I could relate to many of the comments Dr. Nathan made. She mentioned how it was hard to believe how much stuff you could fit into a dorm room, or how the bulletin boards were filled with advertisements and information on clubs, trips, academics, or your health and body. The one concept she kept going back to was the concept of fun and how students want their college experience to be fun. I completely agree. In the future, when I look back on my own college experience, I want to be able to say that I had fun, that I laughed every day, and that I took trips to go skiing or trips to the mall.
Another great point she made was, "The real experience of 'college life,' though, was in the variation." I think this is 100% true. Each college student is going to have a different college experience, which I found to be true after doing my time diaries and taking my photos.
I'll often ask you to respond to a question or a reading for next class.
These assignments are meant as preparation for in-class activities, as well as steps toward larger assignments.
So if you're unprepared, you'll be hurting the learning experience of your classmates, as well as your own.
This is why I evaluate participation as part of your grade.
In general, I expect your responses to thoroughly answer the question I posed
using complete sentences and some kind of evidence
(examples, details, quotes, photos, links to other websites) to support your original point.
(Usually there's no "one right answer," but an answer is better/worse based on whether it's YOURS and whether it's SUPPORTED)
Here are some guidelines for question responses:
In your reading responses, you should briefly summarize the reading and also address issues or topics in the reading that interested you or led you to ask questions. You might begin your reading response by asking the following questions:
(--adapted from Devoss, ATL 150, 2010)
Models
I thought Dr. Rebekah Nathan was a very brave woman. After fifteen years of teaching, she decided to switch roles and become the student. On top of that, she became a "new freshman" at the same university she taught at for years. She completely threw herself into the role, too. She lived in the dorms, attended classes, did homework, and joined as many activities as she could, trying to capture the freshman experience.
When she described attending Previews in the first chapter, there were two lines I thought were fantastic. They were, "As a new student, I was overwhelmed; as a professor, I was surprised to see how many groups dominated the scene and vied for student attention. As an anthropologist, I was humbled to see how little I, as a professor, knew of my students' academic world." The last line in particular stood out to me because I think it's very true that a lot of people get used to the world they know, and may not realize how extremely different someone else's world is. For example, Dr. Nathan was describing how as a professor, she thought she was pretty familiar with the layout of the campus, but after moving in the dorms, she was completely disoriented when forced to find her way around. Another interesting difference Dr. Nathan pointed out was the dialogue in different groups of people. The students had a different style and faster pace of speaking than the professors.
Throughout the second chapter, I could relate to many of the comments Dr. Nathan made. She mentioned how it was hard to believe how much stuff you could fit into a dorm room, or how the bulletin boards were filled with advertisements and information on clubs, trips, academics, or your health and body. The one concept she kept going back to was the concept of fun and how students want their college experience to be fun. I completely agree. In the future, when I look back on my own college experience, I want to be able to say that I had fun, that I laughed every day, and that I took trips to go skiing or trips to the mall.
Another great point she made was, "The real experience of 'college life,' though, was in the variation." I think this is 100% true. Each college student is going to have a different college experience, which I found to be true after doing my time diaries and taking my photos.